


Paths on Which We Belong

by shadowblade_tara



Series: Nyctophilia [6]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: I'm Sorry, M/M, anne learns the truth, dealing with the fallout, i don't remember my tags, repost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 09:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18990322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowblade_tara/pseuds/shadowblade_tara
Summary: Anne confronts Eddie.  He can't keep lying anymore.





	Paths on Which We Belong

Anne has her suspicions. She’s had her suspicions since the first time Eddie told her Venom was gone.

Eddie is an excellent liar. Anne is, too. And she’s been with Eddie long enough to know when he’s lying. She suspected it when he first told her, then there was the addition of the wristband, then the new taste for chocolate (which trust her, Eddie never had before).

She waits until the week after he’s been released from the hospital. He hasn’t come back in for his checkup with Dan, which could mean one of two things – either he’s just being that damned stubborn, or Venom has taken care of things. Either way, she’s getting answers.

Dan knows exactly what she’s planning. All he says is, “If he’s still in pain, make sure he gets back to me. I can’t help if I don’t know he’s hurting.”

God, she loves that man.

Twenty minutes later, she’s banging on Eddie’s door. Eddie opens it, eyes widening as he sees her. “Anne, hey – I, I really wasn’t expecting you here – “

She shoves past him, cutting off his stammering. She can faintly smell scrambled eggs and those instant pancakes he loves so much cooking. And chocolate. 

“We need to talk.” she says flatly.

“Okay.” Eddie returns to the kitchenette. This place is too small to have a proper kitchen. “Let me finish up these. Burned eggs smell bad.” She nods and waits as he finishes up his eggs and places them on a plate alongside the small stack of pancakes. Chocolate chip pancakes. And there’s a small bowl of chocolate chips sitting right on the counter. Looks like he’s been snacking on them.

She scowls. “Venom is still alive.”

Eddie doesn’t even flinch. “No, they’re not.”

“Don’t lie to me –“

Eddie spins around, his focus now solely on her, anger and something else, something desperate, twisting his face. “ _They’re gone!_ I watched them burn while they kept _me_ from dying!”

Anne growls. She reaches out, grabs Eddie’s wrist, and pulls on the band. It doesn’t slide off easily – he’s fighting her, but not hard. Not willing to risk hurting her, or maybe he’s just in too much pain to effectively fend her off. Either way, it doesn’t matter.

She jerks on his arm, harder than she intended, and he winces. “Anne – “

Suddenly she finds herself slammed against the wall, held there by a long, ink-black tentacle. Her fingers are still hooked in the wristband, and it snaps as she’s shoved back. 

**“Don’t touch him!”**

There’s a fresh tattoo there, the infinity knot with E to one side and V to the other. 

If the writhing mass of infuriated alien goo that seems determined to shove her through the wall wasn’t proof enough, that tattoo seals it.

And now she’s staring at a fully formed Venom, their face inches from her own as they snarl at her. She feels like her ribs are going to break under their hold. She just stares up at them, eyes wide. They seem to be debating something, and she wonders if Eddie is talking to them, if he’s pleading for her life.

She wonders if she’s about to get eaten.

Finally, Venom lets her go and backs away. **“Do not touch him.”** They melt back into Eddie, leaving the man a little unsteady on his feet and rubbing his wrist. He offers her a shaky smile.

“Sorry, they’re a little on edge.”

Anne gathers her composure quickly enough. “You lied to me.” Eddie doesn’t react to that. He just stares at her, waiting for her judgement, ready to explain once he knows where her mind has gone. But she has a feeling – a rather sick feeling, judging from Venom’s reaction – that she knows exactly what Eddie has been doing all these months. She sighs.

“You’ve gotten better at lying to me, but you’re still shit at it.” she says finally. 

Eddie offers a faint smile. “What gave me away?” he asks weakly.

She motions to the chocolate chips. “You’re suddenly eating a lot more chocolate than normal, you start wearing a wristband that you never have before – look, I’m not blind, okay? I _know_ you.” She sighs and shakes her head. “Just – eat your breakfast, okay? I’m gonna sit down, and when you’re done, we’re gonna talk.”

/-----------/

Eddie sits down next to Anne, body stiff, like he’s waiting for her to punch him or something. He’s eaten his food by now (and actually washed the dishes, but Anne suspects that’s because he’s stalling), and Venom’s head hovers just over his left shoulder, staring at her balefully. 

He doesn’t speak, so Anne does. “Okay, I’m gonna call this as I see it. When I’m done, you can correct me on anything.” He nods. She takes a deep breath.

“You’ve been lying about Venom. I’m guessing they were really hurt by the rocket, and you’ve been letting them heal. You kept me in the dark to protect me. The less I know, the better. Except somehow LIFE got wind that Venom might still be around, so they came after you and beat your ass. Does that sound about right?”

Eddie takes a shuddering breath. “I wasn’t protecting you.”

Venom actually _flinches_ at that. And Anne can’t really find it in herself to stay mad.

She sighs. “Eddie, you’re a dumbass.”

 **“I’ve been trying to tell him that for a while.”** Venom growls. Eddie promptly flicks them off. 

Anne quickly cuts the two of them off before they can get going. “What made you think I wouldn’t help you?”

Eddie shakes his head. “Anne – “

“Shut up. You know I would have done anything to help you out.”

“You have Dan. Besides,” he offers a wry smile, “you can’t tell me you honestly _like_ Venom.”

Anne shakes her head. “Liking them is irrelevant. You do. That’s all that matters.” She sighs. “Just – Eddie. You – you _let_ four men beat the shit out of you. Why would you do that? Why not just fight back? Even without Venom, I know damn good and well you can scrap with the best of them.”

Venom’s gaze snaps to Eddie, who simply grins at her. “I like being severely underestimated. You of all people should know that.” That elicits a reluctant chuckle out of Anne. Venom pushes up against Eddie’s head questioningly. Eddie smiles at them. “Anne had herself a stalker when we first met. He tried to drive me off – I let him push me around a bit when he found out about me, but when he broke into Anne’s apartment, I sent him home in the back of an ambulance.”

The symbiote _laughs_ at that, the sound amused and affectionate, and Anne can’t help the tightening in her chest.

She moved on. She really shouldn’t be surprised that Eddie is, too. 

**“You should have destroyed them, then.”** Venom says, and Eddie shrugs.

“Next time. I’d rather have them come after me with fists than with guns. I can actually win the first fight. Maybe.” He rubs his forehead like he’s warding off a headache. “They’re not going to give up that easily. I don’t doubt that someone else will figure out that we were faking it. They’ll come back, eventually.”

Venom hisses. **“Then we’ll eat them.”**

Eddie – doesn’t say anything to that, doesn’t bother to tell Venom that eating people is not acceptable. He just inclines his head, and Anne decides not to think too hard on why that is. That’s not a battle she’s prepared to fight.

Eddie likes Venom. She didn’t lie – that’s really all that matters, and as long as Eddie wants them, Anne will fight for his right to keep the symbiote. That doesn’t mean she’s not afraid for him, afraid of Venom, of what the symbiote is doing to her friend.

If it comes right down to it, if Venom is actually _twisting_ Eddie into something he’s not – 

She decides not to think about that. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Eddie’s made his choice.

He wrote that choice in his own blood.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” she says instead. Standing up, she hesitates, just a moment, before speaking again. “But – are you sure about this?”

Eddie doesn’t have to ask what she means. “This is exactly where I belong.”

Anne nods and leaves.

She doesn’t miss the way Venom envelops the bruised man in a full-bodied hug as she walks away. She pauses just in front of the elevator and takes a deep breath.

She moved on. It’s about time Eddie has, too. And all concerns aside, Venom seems to be good for him.

By the time the elevator arrives, she’s able to smile about it.


End file.
